Jordan Kobritz

Archive - September 2017

Greed can motivate human beings to do things they might regret upon hindsight. NFL owners, despite being billionaires, are no different from ordinary folks in that regard. Their decision to storm back into the Los Angeles market last year after a 22-year absence was motivated by greed. As so often happens in such instances, the league and some team owners may be experiencing a severe case of buyer’s remorse.
In 1995, the Los Angeles Rams bolted LA for a new, state of the art stadium in Saint Louis. Along with an array of revenue streams and fancy suites, perhaps the best part of their deal was a clause in the lease that required Saint Louis to guarantee the stadium would always be one of the top-ten in the league. If at any time the stadium was deemed to fall below that standard, the team would be free to move. Two decades later, the inevitable came to pass and Rams’ owner Stan Kroenke printed business cards that read, “NFL team available for the best deal.”

The synergy between sports and entertainment has existed since time immemorial. ESPN paid homage to that notion when it was founded in 1979. The “E” in its name stands for Entertainment, which perhaps not ironically comes before “S,” or Sports.
Sports and politics have likewise had a symbiotic relationship, but since the advent of social media, that relationship has become even more pronounced. And once again, we need to look no further than ESPN to recognize that. SportsCenter hostess Jemele Hill took to twitter last week to issue a series of vitriolic accusations against President Trump, accusing him of, among other things, being “ignorant, offensive, unqualified and unfit to be president, a bigot, an incompetent moron” and most controversial of all, “a white supremacist.”

The Red Sox-Yankees rivalry is alive and well, on and off the field.
The American League East rivals have conducted a season long battle for the Division crown. With three weeks remaining in the season, it’s still uncertain which team will finish first. But the more interesting news may be taking place off the field.

In the aftermath of a racially charged incident at Fenway Park earlier this season, MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred announced that the league would adopt a Fan Code of Conduct beginning with the 2018 season.
On May 1, in a game between Boston and Baltimore, several fans hurled racial slurs and peanuts at Orioles’ centerfielder Adam Jones, who is black. The incident was quickly denounced by the team and Jones received a standing ovation from Red Sox fans and players prior to the following night’s game.